A Strange Day in Balamb
by Psyrin
Summary: Weird events cause strange effects on a Saturday at Balamb Garden. Some romance, read to find out what pairings!!!Curse all summaries!!! I can't write them. ^__~


Hi, everybody!!!  
  
*waits for a response*  
  
*silence*  
  
Well, apparently I'm not as welcome as Dr. Nick. :P Well, here the standard disclaimer:  
  
All FF8 characters belong to Squaresoft (Squaresoft: MY characters!!! MINE!! MINE!!!) Only the ideas belong to me…if only it was the other way around…  
  
There you have it. I also wrote this in between moods, so it started out as a comedy but ends up sort of romance like. Well, ENJOY!!! It's sort of….well…LONG…so be prepared!!!  
  
Pairings(main): SquallXRinoa  
  
SeiferXFuujin  
  
ZellXSelphie  
  
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Zell stood at the secret place, revelling in the cool breeze that refreshed him. Irvine sat down nearby, polishing his rifle. "Why'd you bring me out here, Zell? Isn't this the secret place that students use at night?" Zell turned to look at him. "I need…I'm asking…I just wanted to know…"  
  
"Well, spit it out!!"  
  
"Willyoutellmehowtoaskagirlout?"  
  
"Hehehe….you've come to the right person, Zell. Come with me…" Irvine guided him away from the secret place, through the training centre (dodging the odd monster and conveniently leaving the door open) and out of the Garden. Zell, at this point, was getting very pissed. "Just tell me where the hell we're going! It's disturbing having your arm around my shoulder! And people are watching!!"  
  
"Fine, then. We're going to Esthar City. Sheesh…" Irvine removed his arm from Zell's shoulder. The two quietly exited the Garden without anybody noticing.  
  
Seifer wandered through the halls of Balamb Garden on a glorious Saturday morning. He sighed, watching as the sunlight poured in from the tall windows. " How boring," he thought, as one of the students ran by screaming. He didn't even notice the monsters chasing after said student from the opened doors of the training centre. Seifer plopped on to a nearby bench and searched his pockets for anything remotely interesting. A small lighter came after his search, flicked open and flames appeared. Seifer watched it, mesmerized. The heat, the light it created…  
  
  
  
He smiled.  
  
  
  
Selphie was absolutely ecstatic, along with Rinoa and Quistis. "Booyaka!! Ball tonight in the Garden!!! See, it says so on the message board!!" she cried as she punched her fists up in the air. Rinoa just smiled, thinking. "Squall better be there…it'll be so fun!" Quistis sighed and faced the others. "I don't have a dress, so I'm sure you guys should go without me…"  
  
"Don't worry, Quisty! I haven't got one either."  
  
"And my white one's getting a little old. Say…why don't we go shopping? There's really nothing happening before the ball, so we can just run over to Esthar!! The Garden's parked here anyways."  
  
"Fine. Let's go then!!!" The three women skipped off, happy to get a chance to do a little shopping.  
  
"You're telling me that MONSTERS from the TRAINING CENTER are on the loose, somebody started a FIRE in the cafeteria during BREAKFAST, my friends are ALL MISSING and the Garden's ENGINE IS SCREWEDUP?!?!?!?!?!?" Nida tried to scrunch himself into a smaller ball while Squall glared at him from above the desk. Nida's voice came out a little shaky. " N-N-Now Squall, c-c-calm d-d-down-"  
  
"HOW CAN I BE CALM WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG AT ONLY TEN IN THE MORNING?!?!?!?!" Squall turned his attention towards the P.A system. Flicking the switch to 'on', he announced thorough the microphone, "Everybody, please remain calm. This is your commander Squall speaking. The monsters from the training centre have escaped. I want all junior classmen in the second floor classrooms with a minimum of 3 SeeDs in each room. Any mechanics available are to go down to the engine room to inspect the Garden's engine with an escort of 5 SeeDs. All students with a student ID no. ending with 5 are to patrol the first floor with the minimum of 15 SeeDs. All students with a student ID no. ending with 7 are to patrol the second floor with the minimum of 15 SeeDs. The rest of you, return to your dorm and stay there until further notice." Nida crept out a bit from underneath his desk, relieved that Squall was sane again. He stuck out his head just as Squall slammed the controls and screamed, " WHOEVER IS THE BASTARD THAT STARTED THE FIRE IN THE CAFETERIA IS TO COME TO THE BRIDGE NOW OR FACE EXPULSION!!!! That is all. Have a nice day!" He regained his composure. Squall took out his gunblade and motioned to Nida. "Why you go wait for our arsonist while I restore order to this facility?" Nida could only nod his head in terror.  
  
Seifer kept walking around, watching all the other students battle against the freed monsters. He paused a moment to destroy a Bomb before he went back to flicking his lighter on and off. The little bonfire in the cafeteria had been interesting, but plastic didn't burn very fast. It also gave off a nasty stench. Seifer pondered what else he could burn…another strange smile lit his features as his eyes rested on a freed monster.  
  
Squall raced down the halls towards the training centre. 'Of all days to have this many problems, it had to be today!! Just as I was getting ready for the ball tonight…' thought Squall ignoring all carnage being wreaked around him. 'I've got to shut that training centre door!!' He stopped when a gigantic T-Rexsaur appeared in front of him, scattering people left to right. Squall gritted his teeth and got into battle mode. 'Just great…'  
  
Irvine nudged Zell towards a fairly pretty girl who seemed about their age. Zell kept resisting, hissing curses at Irvine who could've cared less. He gave Zell a big shove, making him bump into the girl. Irvine jumped into the bush to watch gleefully. 'I hope he remembers all my advice…'  
  
Rinoa squealed when she saw Quistis emerge from the change room. " You look absolutely gorgeous!!" Rinoa turned Quistis around, admiring the shimmery blue full-length gown. Quistis saw herself in the mirror and grinned. " I'm glad you like it, Rinoa, because I do too. Where's Sefie?"  
  
"Right here Instructor!!" Selphie emerged from another booth and spun around. " Ta-da!! You like?" Selphie's dress came to her knees and was mainly a deep green colour. Quistis looked it over and gave a smile of approval. " It looks good on you, Sefie. How about mine??" She adjusted the dress a little. "It's perfect, Quisty!! You look so instructor-ish and cute at the same time!!"  
  
"Let's go pay for both dresses then."  
  
Rinoa pouted. " What about my dress, then? I still didn't get one."  
  
"Oh!! Sorry Rinoa. Well, why don't you get a white dress? You'll look like an angel!!"  
  
"No way, Quisty!! She already has one. Why not something like…" Selphie rummaged through the rack. "…this one!!!" Rinoa gasped.  
  
"GET BENT, FREAK!!!"  
  
Zell managed to jump into the bushes with Irvine before the girl could give him another black eye. Irvine let out a squeak before Zell had a deadly headlock on him. "Why didn't it work, Mister Ladies Man?!?!?!?" Zell hissed, glaring at the cowboy with his good eye. Irvine tried to shake Zell off with no success. "Now Zell, do we really want to hurt me?" giving the martial artist his best 'pity me!!' look. "What did you say to her?"  
  
"Exactly what you told me!! 'Hey sugar, why don't we hook up later for a little down time?' And you know what she did to me?!?!?! LOOK!!!" Zell pointed to his rapidly swelling eye. Irvine got his head out and proceeded to massage his neck. " Maybe you were coming on a little too strong…"  
  
"Hey!! You TOLD me to say that to her!!!"  
  
"Well, it was your first try. Mine first time was VERY different…"  
  
"WILL YOU SHUT UP AND TELL ME HOW TO ASK OUT SE-"  
  
"WHO?!?!?!?!??!?"  
  
"Uhh…nobody in particular…"  
  
"DID YOU SAY SELPHIE?!?!?!??!??!?!" Zell could only nod. Irvine laughed in disbelief. "Sefie??? Well, good luck with her…she drank so much soda the last time we went out together…not a pretty sight. Still, you've got good taste…"  
  
"JUST SHUT UP, IRVINE!!!"  
  
"Oh!! Is Zell BLUSHING?!?!?"  
  
*SLAM*  
  
"Irvie shutting up…"  
  
Squall leapt over the rapidly dissolving body of the T-Rexsaur as he made his way towards the training centre. 'Curses!! All these mo-'Squall skidded to a stop in front of an ominous figure.  
  
It was Seifer.  
  
Said ominous figure was flicking his lighter on and off while laughing maniacally. "If it isn't Puberty Boy…"  
  
"Seifer!!! Are YOU the bastard who set the cafeteria on fire?!?!?"  
  
"Nooo…"  
  
"Finally, some good ne-"  
  
"Not ONLY did I torch the caf, I torched some monsters, some Garden students and the odd house plant or two. Or were they the weird faceless people? Well, now I'm on my way to set fire to the infirmary, so toodles!!" Seifer sprinted off in the direction of Dr. Kadowaki's office. Squall could've followed the psychotic Seifer and whupped his ass, but decided that would come later. 'I have to seal off the monsters!!' He thought, fighting madly to reach the training centre's entrance.  
  
Rinoa held out the dress. "It's beautiful…" she breathed. Selphie traced the floral pattern that covered the ends of the dress and grinned. "You know, Rin, you'd look great in this shade of red. It's so bright!" Quistis held the dress against Rinoa. "It's perfect for you!! And the price isn't bad. Why don't you try it on?" Rinoa merely ran her hand over the dress. "I don't think I'll need to try this on."  
  
Selphie looked up. "Why, Rinoa? Is something wrong with it?"  
  
"No. It's just…I love it already!! Let's just go to the cashier and head over to the shoe store!!"  
  
Quistis beamed and said, "Come on!! It's already 2 and we need an hour to get back and prepare for the ball!!" The trio rushed out of the fitting rooms.  
  
Seifer cackled madly as he exited the infirmary. The flames behind him gave off a merry glow, despite the fact that its flames were currently consuming all their medical supplies. He ignored them and walked around idly, looking for something to burn. 'What else is highly flammable??' He thought, pausing often to use his Fira spell on the odd monster or student. Then it came to him. 'Books!!!' His pace quickened as he headed for the library.  
  
Irvine watched as Zell nursed his eye with a large lump of ice. The swelling had continued for quite a while, making Zell's eye look more like a purple grapefruit. Irvine, feeling a little giddy after his 'nap', went out of the men's washroom to take a look at what was happening. Apparently, he saw something very interesting, because he scampered back to Zell with a huge smile on his face. "Come on, Zell!! I saw something that you might be interested in…" Irvine said as he tugged the blonde from a sink. Reluctantly, Zell let himself be pulled out by Irvine. "Like I could actually see  
  
Anyt-ACK!!!!"  
  
Selphie looked up from the rack of shoes she was examining. " Is my mind wandering, or did I just hear Zell screaming?" Quistis looked up and smiled slyly at the petite girl. "Just HOW far was your mind wandering Sefie?? I mean, far enough to think of Zell??" Rinoa giggled at this while Selphie blushed. She turned to face the direction where she heard the voice. "Look!!! It IS Zell!! And Irvie??? What are they doing here?" pointed out the irrepressible Selphie. "Let's go see!!! Come on, Rin, Quisty!!" They came closer to the spot where Zell now had a deathgrip around poor little Irvie's neck…  
  
Zell quickly released Irvine just as Selphie and co. walked up to them. Smiling innocently, she asked, "What are you guys doing here at the mall? Well, I mean Zell mainly. Aren't you usually off at the training centre on Saturdays??" Selphie poked him in the chest before looking up. "Oh my goodness!! Your eye…Zell, what happened? Are you in pain?? We need to get you to a doctor!!! Oh no, wait." As Selphie summoned her magic, Irvine pushed Rinoa and Quistis further away. Rinoa stopped and stared him down. "Okay, what's happening?? Why is Zell all bruised up like that?" Quistis pinned down Irvine with her finger. He gulped and hurriedly began his story. After he had finished, Rinoa and Quistis were both rolling on the ground with laughter.  
  
"Zell? Beat up by a girl??"  
  
"He actually asked YOU for advice?"  
  
"And he's even got a CRU-"  
  
"Hey guys. Just what's so funny?" Selphie stared at them on the ground, with a murderous-looking but recovering Zell behind, glaring at the cowboy. Irvine suddenly ran off, shouting after him, " Uhhhh…hehehe!! Gotta go check up on what's happening at Garden!! See ya!!!" Rinoa and Quistis also started walking off. "Sefie, if you don't mind, why don't Rin and I keep shopping? You've already got your shoes and Zell needs to be escorted back to recover from his accident." Zell started muttering curses, but froze when he saw Selphie smiling at him. "Come on, Chicken Wuss!!"  
  
"Hey!! No one calls me Chicken Wuss!!!"  
  
"Heehee!! Just relax. I'm only teasing you."  
  
"Yeah, right…" The pair walked off in the direction of their school.  
  
Seifer was just about to flick his lighter on close to the bookshelf just as a he heard the loud tapping of somebody's foot. He turned to see a feminine figure holding something akin to a round boomerang. He put his lighter down. "Fuujin…" he whispered, " How nice of you to join me. Would you like to-"  
  
"STOP!"  
  
"Why? It's really fun. It'll help with our heating bill as well…"  
  
"DUMB."  
  
"Well, what do you expect me to do on a boring Saturday? Arson passes time!!"  
  
"BALL."  
  
"Whaddya mean, ball?"  
  
"DANCE."  
  
"When?"  
  
"TONIGHT. 8PM."  
  
"Oh…I guess it'll pass time. What time is it now?"  
  
"4PM."  
  
"Well…who's gonna go with me? Raijin??"  
  
Fuujin stifled a giggle. "ME?"  
  
"You?…Oh, fine. Fuujin, will you come with me to the ball?"  
  
"YES!!"  
  
*GLOMP*  
  
"Owww…man, Fuujin, you're lucky you're light, or I'd have collapsed."  
  
"FUNNY. Now can I start speaking normally??"  
  
" Well, I didn't say you couldn't."  
  
" Okay. What are we going to do about the fire?"  
  
"Oh. Forgot about that. Why don't we use some Water spells here?"  
  
" No thanks. I'll use Tornado instead, thank you very much." The two, Fuujin now pried off of Seifer, left the library to help their commander.  
  
Squall panted as he slammed the button to the training centre's door. 'Thank goodness…' thought Squall as the doors started to close. He waited, hoping that no more monsters would escape.  
  
"Commander??" Xu appeared behind Squall.  
  
"Yes??" he snapped.  
  
"The monsters are now at manageable numbers. I think we've got only 60 left to kill. Also, Seifer and Fuujin are helping to control the fires. Raijin is entertaining the junior classmen," Xu paused as she remembered the sight of the children climbing on Raijin. "And Irvine has been located at the main gate. The mechanics have begun repairs on the Garden's engine as well."  
  
"Thank you for the report, Xu. Stand watch here to make sure no monster escape from the training centre anymore. I'm going to see Irvine." Xu gave him a salute as he raced to meet up with Irvine.  
  
"Zell!! We're back."  
  
"Hey!! Something's really wrong here. I can smell smoke!!"  
  
"Me too. We better hurry." Zell rushed off with Selphie trailing behind. He looked behind just as she tripped over a tree root.  
  
"ZELL!!"  
  
"Here, Selphie!!" He caught Selphie just before her face hit the ground. "Are you hurt?"  
  
"No, I'm alright. Thanks a lot…"  
  
"Ummm…Selphie?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you want to go to the ball with me?"  
  
"Sure, Zell!! After all, you are a nice person."  
  
Zell blushed. "Thanks. Okay, let's go help Squall!!" The duo ran for the smouldering Garden.  
  
Seifer eyed the fires that were consuming his Garden while Fuujin just sighed. "I didn't think it would be THAT bad, Fuujin…"  
  
"Correction. You didn't THINK."  
  
"Well, sorry!! Let's just put them out, okay??" Fuujin nodded and started summoning her Tornado spell. Seifer paced for a bit.  
  
"Hmmm…what to use…Water seems pathetic against this…wait!! I've got Leviathan junctioned!!!" He started summoning the water GF.  
  
Squall just got to the main gate when he heard a rumble. 'What in Hyne's name…'  
  
*WHOOSH*  
  
*SPLASH*  
  
'AAHHHHHHH!!!!!' Torrents of water rushed past him from behind. He fought to keep his head up as he turned to see what caused it. His eyes narrowed when he saw the GF above.  
  
"SEIFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!"  
  
Rinoa flinched. Quistis, standing right beside her, became concerned. "Is everything okay with you, Rinoa??" Her hands instinctively reached for her whip. Rinoa's face went ghostly white. She thrashed around screaming, "Squall's hurt!! I have to go to him!!!" She broke away from Quistis, leaving all her bags and a puzzled group of fellow shoppers behind.  
  
Irvine looked down from his perch on the tree. He was lucky that the flood didn't ruin any of his favourite clothes. Irvine groaned when he saw the end of his trench coat. 'Crap!! And it's dry-clean only…' he looked up in time to see two familiar figures rush by...  
  
By sheer luck, Zell and Selphie avoided the waves that poured out from the Garden's entrance. They were both standing right beside it, so only spray hit them. Zell, having his reflexes honed after years of martial arts, had pulled Squall out of the water just as he rushed by. Selphie hovered over his soaked form, worrying. 'Don't be dead; please don't be dead!!' Selphie thought as she struggled to get Squall's leather jacket off. Zell rubbed Squall's arm to keep him warm. After what seemed like an eternity, Squall's eyes opened. Selphie screamed with delight and hugged him, even though Squall's clothes were waterlogged. Zell looked at him and grinned. Squall tried feebly to sit up, but Selphie just laid him down again and began performing a weak Fire spell nearby.  
  
Rinoa…his final thought faded as he slipped away from the conscious world.  
  
She had just cast Float and Haste on herself, hoping to get to the Garden faster. Rinoa's breath was ragged from running; her entire body felt like it was on fire. Desperately she ran on, clinging to the fading thought she heard from Squall. 'SQUALL!! Don't leave me, stay!!! SQUALLL!!!' Tears glistened on Rinoa's face.  
  
The floods subsided, allowing Irvine to get down from the tree and inspect the bodies that lay on the ground. "Well, well, well…what do we have here??" he cackled, poking the motionless bodies with his rifle. "All right then…WAKEY WAKEY, FUUJIN AND SEIFER!!!" The two got up, wincing and glaring at Irvine. He merely grinned. Fuujin, with astonishing powers of recovery, kicked him in the shin with added ferocity. Seifer laughed at the miserable Irvine, hurting himself in the process. "What's the big idea!! What happened in there anyway?" inquired Irvine.  
  
Seifer coolly replied, "Someone freed the training centre monsters and set fire to the Garden. All in all, not too much harm was done."  
  
"WHAT?!?!? Freed the monsters?!?!? AND torched the Garden?!?!?!"  
  
Fuujin nodded. "AFFIRMATIVE."  
  
"Do they know who?!?!?"  
  
" Nope. Fuujin and I helped put out the flames, but I sort of summoned Leviathan, so that's the deal with the big flood. Puberty Boy must be really pissed."  
  
" Oh crap!! We better go check up on him!!"  
  
Fuujin motioned to him. "YOU, FIRST. US, CATCH UP LATER."  
  
"Uuh…sure. See ya!" Fuujin turned and held out her hand to Seifer. He took it gratefully, and they limped after Irvine.  
  
The Garden loomed in front of her, smouldering and looking very damaged. Rinoa nearly flew to the place where she could Squall's weak presence. " SQUALL!!" she cried, quickly landing and cradling his head. He felt so i cold…/ishe spiralled downward, terrible thoughts popping up in her mind until Zell brought her back to reality. "Rinoa!!! Thank goodness you're here. Selphie and I didn't have any stocked Cures, so we just tried to get him a little warmer…looks like he got the full brunt of the attack. See…all the bruises…" Selphie whispered a 'hi' in her direction and continued building up her fire. Rinoa focused her sorceress powers on Squall. 'Squall…stay here. Don't go!!! Come back to me…'  
  
  
  
Irvine and Quistis joined Selphie and Zell as they waited for Rinoa and Squall. The two were still latched onto each other, but none of them were moving. Seifer and Fuujin came up, unnoticed by the other concerned people. The two dried off themselves by the fire as they hoped along with the rest of them for the well being of a sorceress and their commander.  
  
Squall was lost. He couldn't see anything but darkness around. 'Where am I???  
  
Am I lost??  
  
Am I dead???  
  
What's going on???  
  
…I'm afraid.  
  
RINOA!!!!' Darkness!! Bitter, cruel darkness mocked him as his cries were absorbed by the emptiness.  
  
'Squall?? Is that you??' He felt warmth…  
  
'Rinoa???'  
  
'Squall!! It IS you!! Oh, I'm so happy…I thought I lost you.  
  
Rinoa, I'm very weak. I can't do this. …I'm too afraid.  
  
Don't worry, I'll help. Come on!! Stay with me…' Squall felt like he was being tugged at lightly, like a light had beamed down to him…  
  
'How ironic.'  
  
'Squall?? Why do you say that??'  
  
'Remember?? I saved you in space, and now you're saving me.' Squall felt Rinoa laugh.  
  
1 'How true, Squall. How true…' the light poured in…  
  
Squall opened his eyes and saw Rinoa smiling at him. "Thank you, Squall. For staying with me, that is." He managed a tiny grin. "Always."  
  
That night at the ball(In Esthar, the Garden was more than a little damaged), Quistis watched all the couples on the floor. There was Selphie and Zell(tripping and laughing together), Seifer and Fuujin(surprisingly good as a dance couple), Irvine and Xu (both enjoying themselves) and last but not least, Rinoa and Squall. 'They were made for each other…' Quistis' thoughts were interrupted by a gentle tap on her shoulder. "Hi, Raijin. Having fun??" She watched him as he quivered under her gaze. "Yup. A lot of fun…ummm…ya know…Quistis…would you like a dance?? With me, ya know??" She moved away from her spot by the dance floor. "Why not?" The two joined in the waltz.  
  
  
  
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Wow. You actually finished it. I'm so happy!!! Please review…it's my first public fanfic post, so I just want to know if people READ this…I just need a SIGN!!! Thanks!! ^__^  
  
~Psy 


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